Advice

There’s a lot for employers to like about the U.S. Department of Labor’s new Payroll Audit Independent Determination program—known as PAID. Some state officials aren’t so enthusiastic.

The IRS, in conjunction with the State Department, began revoking the passports of seriously delinquent tax debtors earlier this year. There are exceptions.

Employees’ road in seeking to sue their employers for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act just got substantially rockier, thanks to two U.S. Supreme Court decisions issued at the end of the 2017-2018 term. Here are the highlights.

Here are digests of recently released official announcements from the federal government.

Your options: You can either void uncashed checks or hold them open on your books. Hiccup: Banks generally won’t honor checks that are older than six months, so your employees won’t be happy either.

If misclassified workers pay their income and self-employment taxes, you’re off the hook for the income taxes you didn’t withhold and likewise for both the employer and employee portions of FICA (but penalties may still apply).

When you withhold taxes from employees’ pay, you’re administering the tax code. The U.S. Supreme Court has now given you some breathing room. It ruled that you can’t be criminally liable for obstructing the due administration of the tax code unless you’re aware of, or can reasonably foresee, a pending proceeding, such as an audit.

As employees’ thoughts turn toward summer vacation, put two items on your agenda: ensuring that the summer vacation schedule runs smoothly and that employees aren’t overpaid during weeks they take a day or two off.

Payroll managers whose companies take on summer hires know the feeling. Questions about W-4s and I-9s from new members of the taxpaying community are just the beginning. Use this checklist to bring order to the summer hiring process.